Apartments near village of Agua Fría clear hurdle

City planning department backs proposed project near El Camino Real Academy

The city planning department is recommending that Santa Fe’s general plan be amended to allow 355 apartments on 20 acres along South Meadows Road near the new El Camino Real Academy.

“What we’re attempting to do is add to the supply of rental housing in the city,” said Monica Montoya, the landuse consultant for property owner Carlos Garcia.

Rental vacancy rates are below 5 percent in the city.

But the proximity of the high-density project to the village of Agua Fría traditional historic community has raised concerns among residents who attended neighborhood notification meetings.

A rezoning request and general plan amendment by Don Juan’s Land LLC — Carlos Garcia is set to be considered by the city Planning Commission on Thursday. If approved, the property would be rezoned from two residences per acre to 21 per acre.

While the applicants have told the city and nearby residents it wants to build a 355-unit, two-story apartment project, a specific development plan would have to be submitted if rezoning approval is finalized.

The city’s long-range planning department supports the project, saying the apartment complex could be part of larger development near the South Meadows Road/N.M. 599 interchange that would include a commercial area and city fire station, as well as El Camino Real Academy, a public school with 880 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

If approved, the city would require the developer to pay a $401,000 fee to support lowincome housing projects and impact fees of about $1.2 million to pay for traffic improvements at Agua Fría Street and South Meadows. The project would be completed in two phases through 2019, with rents ranging from $950 for a studio and onebedroom units to $1,350 for twoand three-bedroom apartments.

The land is vacant and was annexed by the city in 2014 as part of an agreement between the city and the county to bring more consistency in services to the patchwork of land stretching along the Santa Fe River toward N.M. 599.

But just east of the property boundary is the village of Agua Fría, where residents specifically wanted to remain outside the urban boundary. The centuriesold community is along El Camino Real, a trade route from Mexico to Santa Fe until the arrival of the railroad in 1878.

Agua Fría village is on the flat terrain south of the Santa Fe River, and as far back as the 13th century, families raised crops, using water from the river and from freshwater springs around San Ysidro Crossing to irrigate plots.

But new subdivisions, the extension of Rufina Street and construction of N.M. 599, the city bypass, are bringing development pressure to the area, which still nurtures a community church and cemetery.

”The bottom line is that the city needs more housing,” neighbor Andrea Joy Cermanski wrote to the Planning Commission. But she is bothered by the proposed rezoning for the apartments. “This would be very high density compared to the one-dwelling-per-acre lots that surround this area,” she said.

Montoya said the property is right for a higher density project because of its proximity to N.M. 599 and South Meadows Road, which provides easy access to and from downtown, as well as Los Alamos. The project is also within walking distance to the school.

Garcia has worked with the neighborhood to reduce the density of the project and scale it back to a limit of two stories, Montoya said. The property owner also plans to incorporate a system of walking trails that would connect to the school and the Santa Fe River trail.

There will be a community garden and low-profile lighting, she said. “He’s very interested in making this a community that Agua Fría residents can be proud of,” Montoya said.